Confessions of A Teen DemiGoddess
by TheXWandererXWithin
Summary: yeah, I got a lot of views for this story on another writing site, so I decided to put it up here. It's like Percy Jackson, except, well....ok, just read it and you'll get what I'm saying! and yes there WILL be blood shed, so I rated it T
1. Prolouge

**Confessions of A Teen Demi-Goddess**

Prolouge

Greece, 1974

_In a small town in Greece next to the Ocean, the crops are blooming, and the sun is beating down on weathered backs of farmers tending to their vegetables. Every family is happily working and doing their designated chores._

_But all is not well in a small rundown shack hidden mostly by trees and crops. A whispy haired mother is running frantically around, saddling a chestnut horse. She bustles quickly past her daughter to get some water jugs._

_The four year-old girl has long, dark brown hair while her mother has light brown hair, and the little girls ragged red dress is covered in soot. They are poor. _

_Nestled in the crook of the mothers' left arm is a little baby boy that looks nothing like either of them. _

_His bright but dark blue eyes is surveying the scene with interest. He has never seen such chaos in the small household before. The terrified mother puts the little baby down for a second to lift her daughter onto the back of the horse. She hands the boy to the girl and mounts the horse herself too. The open barn- like doors of the shack are galloped through and left hanging as the trio speed through them, leaving the shack in a lonely state. They gallop down an unused track, long forgotten by the other people of this town. They ride as quickly as possible, for they are on an urgent mission;keep the baby of Lady Hera and Lord Zeus safe. For HE is coming. He wants the child. Keep the baby safe, and all will be well. Keep the baby safe, and no harm will come. Keep the baby safe at all costs. _

_The mother keeps glancing behind them. She knows they are following. They will be there soon. In the distance, the screeching and tramping is coming closer. The trio speed up. If only they could get away in time._

_The screeching is very close now; they will not get away alive._

_Keep the baby safe at all costs._

_The mother stops the now scared horse. She knows what must happen. She lifts the terrified little girl and the baby off the horse and gives the girl a knife. She tells them to run. _

_Run._

_The little girl runs to hide in the crops. She wants her mother to come; but she cannot. She hides with the baby in the shadows, the knife in the little girls pocket. The creatures are here now; the horse is frantic. Two snake women and three empousai drag the mother off the horse and begin to feast. A Laistrigonian Giant takes the horse. The little girl gasps back her tears as she hears her mothers screams. She begins to run towards where she knows the sea is. Her mothers screams echo in her ears until they fade away completely. The little girl clutches her foster brother in her frail little arms as she runs. She must make it to the sea; it is her only hope._

_The crops are high, but the snake woman and empousai have strong noses. They begin to follow the little girl. She makes it to the sandy beach. The little girl's hair flaps wildly around her as she zooms to the waiting row boat. She pushes the boat as far as possible with the baby in it and jumps in. She flaps pointlessly at the water, trying to get the boat to move out to sea. _

_The empousai and snake woman arrive. They begin to wade into the water after the girl, but the water forms a solid hand out of water, scoops them out and throws them far inland, where they land unceremoniously in a startled farmers crop, where they are chased promptly away by the suddenly feirce towns people and their pitchforks._

_The hand meanwhile, splashes back into the water, and raises around the little girl, who thinks that it will throw her out too, but instead begins moving the row boat across the sea._

_For ten days they sailed the seas, with the help of the ocean. On the third day however, the baby began crying from hunger. So, the little girl, unable to give the child anything else, cuts her arm for the baby to drink her blood, which it did happily for its hunger was great. She did this for four days until finally she was too weak to even reach for the knife, so the baby had to go hungry. On the eleventh day, the little girl managed to lift her head and saw to her relief, the place we call New York City, where she knew her father was waiting for her, having sail across to America a month ago. And knowing then that she and the baby was safe, she fell asleep, resulting in the fact that her father had to carry her home, leaving the baby in Zeus's temple where, The Lady Hera took the baby and returned to Olympus. They were safe. _

_For now. _


	2. The Dream

CHAPTER ONE

The Dream

I woke up from my dream dazed.  
In it,  
I was five years old again and a tree was burning. It was dead.  
I was standing in a ring of fire, my mom on the other side of it screaming my name.  
I didn't see what all the fuss was about. I wasn't dying.  
It began raining. The sky that had been bright blue moments ago was dark and cloudy.  
Zeus was helping me.  
Most likely under my fathers orders.  
Dad controled water, but could not make it fall from the sky. Only the Rain god could do that.  
Zeus was the rain god.  
Poisedon was the god of the sea.  
Poisedon was my dad.

I sat up on my couch and rubbed my eyes.  
Today was the last day of High School at Walden. Walden High School opened up a year ago in Manhatten, named after Walden Pond, a place where some famous guy wrote a lot of famous poems.  
Big deal.

My room was painted Lilac and covered with band posters; e.g. Paramore, Taking Back Sunday, The Beatles, Aly & Aj, Taylor Swift, etc...  
Covered in movie posters; e.g. Once, Fantastic Four, The Messengers, Get Smart, Night At The Museum, etc....  
Covered in drawings of elves, fairies and gods and goddesses,  
And covered in photos of my friends and I being enormusly stupid. Some were of my High School friends and I being stupid; some were of my Half blood friends and I being stupid. Either way, we were all being stupid.  
The only common fact between them.  
My wall above my bed, written in black marker, giant words read out the lyrics to my favorite song. Next to that was my body length mirror, decorated in blue, black, red and green marker, words like POO HEAD and I KICKED THUMPERS ASS littering the sides of it. Not to mention the hearts and bubbles.  
My bed was made and empty, and my light wooden desk facing the busy NY street below was messy with overdue school reports. my dark wooden floor and rug was littered with crumpled up peices of paper and my guitar lay on the ground instead of on its stand.

I put on my black, skinny jeans and a multi colored rainbow polka-dotted singlet.  
Over that I put my gray Walden jersey on. I picked up my orange backpack off the floor and slammed my white closet door shut, then headed to my bed room door which had a Green Day poster on it and an MCR poster underneath it.

Funfun, the last day of school.  
This was going to be riot.  
And I meant that. Literally.


	3. Jokes Don't Make Me Laugh

CHAPTER TWO

Jokes don't make me laugh.

I skipped breakfast, just grabbing my Mocha bottle to go, and kissing my mom on the cheek. I grabbed my skateboard and skated to the elevators.  
I got there just in time. The doors were closing just as I slid in, almost knocking Mr. Garrison, our next door neighbor over. He worked at a law firm.  
Hehe, I spilt my mocha all over his suit.  
There was an uncomfortable silence as I waited edgily for the doors to open.  
Finally, they did.  
I skated into the marble hallway, grabbing an apple off the tray Estebonn, the friendly spanish bag handeler was carrying upstairs.  
"See ya after school Est!" I yelled behind me. I saw him wave out of the corner of my eye as I sped past people waiting for their rides in the lobby.  
I almost knocked over the manager as I swerved past him and an old lady that he was helping up the stairs.  
"Miss. Lieheart! Miss Lieheart! Rhia! Get back here..." He called angrily.  
But I most certainly did not 'get back here' as he put it, I was already speeding across the too crowded sidewalk of 21st Street heading for Walden School.  
I swerved past tons of people while taking big bites out of my apple as I did so.  
I tossed it in a bin as I passed. Though unfortunatly, it missed and hit the hood of a car and bounced onto the road, right where the road crossing was. I stopped to watch as a car carreend past, splattering my poor apple across a lady in a fancy black suit that must've cost 100s of bucks. I giggled as she waved her fist after the car.  
At that moment someone pushed me aside and flew off on my skateboard.  
"Hey!" I yelled after them.  
Grrrr. I rolled my eyes. I would just have to catch them.  
I began running after him. I sped up until-  
*thump*  
I boweled him over. I landed ontop of him, him clutching my skateboard in his right hand.  
"Hey Rodger, mind giving me back my skateboard?" I asked him silkily, while brushing my jersey off in a pompus sort of way.  
"No prob Rhi. You know, one of these days I'll get it from you." He said, handing me the board, grinning like hell.  
I rolled my eyes and said, "Sure ya will rodge."  
I saluted him and skated off towards my destination.  
Rodger was my friend who was basically a street kid, who lived in a cardboard box in an alleyway outside my apartment block.  
I took him food sometimes when I wasn't too busy or had enough time to steal it from the kitchens.  
I made it to school just as the first bell rang.  
I dropped my board in my sickening green locker.  
I gathered my books for first period and headed off to Study Hall.

I banged into Zac Bolten on my way.  
He gave me a huge grin.  
Stupid, show off Jock. He thought he could get me to love him like everyone else by just _smiling. _  
God, was he full of himself.

"Sorry Zac."  
I said in a very bored voice as I pushed past him, making him frown.  
He looked like a retard when he did that.  
I ran into study hall taking my seat next to Gianna and Mike.  
"Hey guys!" I whispered, taking my seat in between them.  
"Hi Rhia!" They chorused, causing Mrs. Applegate to hush us angrily from the front of the room.  
I heard Lilly say loudly from the seat across from me; "I don't see what the big deal is, it's the last day of school for _gods sake_.  
Everyone stared at her.  
Did she want a death wish?!  
I aimed a well earned kick in her direction, only resulting in hitting Jacob, causing him to double over in pain and swear barely audibly under his breath.  
Gianna stifled a giggle.

Mrs. Applegate was total christian.  
It was strange how such a plump, kind looking lady could resemble a saber toothed tiger so much.  
She looked furiously at Lilly, eyes buldging, causing everyone else to shrink away in fear.  
Lilly just sat there calmly, meeting Applegates' gaze, not seeming the least bit intimidated.

The tension was finally broken by a coughing fit of Mr. Smiths.  
Lilly returned back to her work, her gaze completely calm, as if nothing had ever happened.  
Everyone returned tentively back to their work.  
I was shocked.  
I had never seen that before.  
Wow. Lilly had guts.

I was brought out of my daze by Gianna, who whispered in my ear excitedly;  
"Look! I made up another poem."

It was Gianna's dream to become a poet, and she was super good at it.

I sneaked a peek at the poem she had written.

_Falling Slowly,_

_I have relived this dream,_

_Once again._

_My life,_

_It is tangled,_

_No meaning no more,_

_It is gone._

_Covered in sky,_

_As high as a bird,_

_As free as a tree,_

_Swaying in the wind._

_I watch it is trembles,_

_I watch as it snaps,_

_And I know that my life,_

_Is going to end just like that._

_I watch as a bird, _

_It soars above,_

_I watch as it snatches,_

_A poor, lone dove._

_I know my life, will end just like that._

_I fall through the sky,_

_my feet are free,_

_To walk the sky,_

_On shimmering beams._

_Unseen by man,_

_And flown on by wings,_

_And danced on by leaves,_

_Caught in the breeze._

_My hair, it flys, _

_Like a meteor,_

_A trail for the moon to follow._

_And before I can gasp,_

_Before I can breathe,_

_I have hit the ground,_

_That terrible deed,_

_It wasn't my fault, _

_I swear on his life,_

_I would swear on mine,_

_But as you can see; I have none._

_I had fallen slowly, but now It is rust,_

_my life has ended,_

_To shimmering dust._

_I wake with a jolt, _

_shaking my bed,_

_and I'm scared, of course,_

_I should be dead._

_But no, I am not,_

_I thought I had died,_

_I had felt the slap yes?_

_No?_

_I don't think I'll ever know the truth,_

_But now, at least,_

_I can hope._

_( this is dedicated to the song 'Falling Slowly' from the movie: Once)_

I smiled up at her. "Good one." I whispered.  
She gave a happy smile and returned to her work. Writing more poems I presumed.  
I opened my notebook and began doodling.  
'Falling Slowly' definetly wasn't her best poem, but it was good.

***

When Study Hall was _finally_ over, we went out into the courtyard and sat in a big circle underneath an oak tree.  
Terra had brought a towel so I shared with her.  
I began txting Lucas, my back against the tree.  
Everyone else was talking, and I wasn't into the convo.

'Sup Lookie Pookie?'

I got a txt back almost immediatly saying;

"_Please_ don't call me that.'

'Okie dookie, how's Olympus?'

'Dad's fighting with your dad again. He says you're leading me on.'

'Onto what? Buried treasure?'

'Lol, but no. He says you're a bad influence.'

'We all know that, so what else?'

'He also says that if I don't put my phone away now and stop the infernal beeping that he will literally _kill it_'

'Haha, you should go then. See ya!'

'Bye.'

I finished txting and turned my blackberry off.  
Ahh, Lucas was a great friend to have.  
I decided to txt Sienna later, and ask her how Connor and Micheal were getting on.  
Not to well, I don't think.

I came back to the world when I heard the words 'Practical Joke' uttered by Jake.  
"What Joke?" I asked stupidly.

"Oh, we were just deciding whether or not to play a joke on Mr. Wimbelton." Said Terra, playing with a hole in the towel.

"Ooo, fun," I said eagerly. "How are we going to do it?"

"We didn't _say,_ that we were going to do it, only that we _might_." Said Lilly, looking annoyed.

"Yeah, well I'm _saying,_ that we _are_ doing it." I answered.

"Well, what's your plan?" Asked Mike, looking at me expectantly.

"What about, sticking a bucket on the door with wire so that when he walks through the class room door and triggers the bucket, and it will fall on him, AND it will be full of balloons full of pudding." I said.

"Can they be vanilla pudding? He's allergic to vanilla." Offered Terra.

"Vanilla it is then, lads." I said satisfactorly, folding my arms and leaning on the tree again.

They went into the details as I read the 25th chapter of an biography of John Adams by David McCullough for U.S. History.  
When they asked me who should steal the equiptment from the art rooms and the cafeteria, I answered Mike, who knew the cafeteria by heart because he had to cook lunches for old people who were using the caf during the summer break, and Jake who knew the art block so well he could walk through it, fetch a bucket, some balloons and wire from it for you in his sleep without getting caught.

I was to be on lookout duty and say the teachers name and run up to them as a sign.  
When Terra, Lilly, Mike, Jacob and Gianna set it up behind me, I stood in front of the lockers next to Mr. Wimbolton's class room door beside me.  
Thankfully, no teachers came down our hallway.

The rest of us except Terra and Gianna sat in our seats, as they told any kid coming into our class to step carefully over the wire so as not to trigger it.  
It was slow, but we made it.  
Everyone was sitting politely in their seats as walked airily through the doorway, I exchanged looks with Gianna.  
Everyone watched in silence as the bucket toppled over and its contence splattered all over Mr. Wimbolton. There was a moment of silence, and then....  
Everyone burst into laughter at the sight of him. His glasses were eskewed, his suit was ruined, he had a blotchy rash growing all over his arms, his face cherry red and he was shaking in fury, his bald spot covered in a pile of vanilla pudding.

He gave me the devils.  
He knew it had involved me.  
"TO THE PRINCIPALS OFFICE RHIA LIEHEART! YOU TOO JACOB SMITH AND GIANNA SMITH! NOT TO MENTION YOU TWO!" He pointed a shaking finger at Lilly and Terra.  
"YOU TWO AS WELL! AND MIKE BLACK!" He screamed.  
We got up, quivering in humor.  
We walked to the door, laughing and giving thumbs up to everyone in the class. Plenty of people were rolling around on the ground. Even the goths who sat in the back found it funny.  
We made our way down the hall to the principal's office, laughing and saying things like: 'Did you see his face?' 'Did you see how fast it came down? He didn't even see it coming!'  
We sat down in wooden, blue seats. Jake, Mike and Gianna were still chortling happily; Terra was trying to keep a straight face, and Lilly and I were grinning.  
Then Ms. Meyer walked in; We stopped abruptly.  
She was tall and wore an expensive, black suit.  
Her brown hair was tied up in a tight bun and she wore plain black shoes.  
Her withered face was like a vultures', and her eyes were beady and black.  
"So...." She said, leaving it hanging there eerily in the space in front of us.  
Her eyes snapped to each of our faces in turn. Mine was the last face her evil eyes snapped to.  
I gulped.  
That's when I thought that maybe a practical joke wasn't such a good idea after all.

We followed her silently into her office. The door slammed behind us by an unseen hand.  
I exchanged nervous looks with Lilly.  
I knew we were thinking the same thing.  
Uhoh.

We waited uncomfortably; Jake was shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.  
I had made it the whole year without blowing up the school, and I wanted to keep it that way.  
Just my luck.  
I wondered where Angora was. She wasn't at school today.  
Ms. Meyer stared beadily at us, as if we were her prey.  
I had gotten that look enough from monsters.

Lilly nudged me. What? Did she want to get us in more trouble?  
She nudged me again.  
"What?!" I hissed out of the corner of my mouth.  
"The-mist-" She cocked her head towards Ms. Meyer.  
'What?" I mouthed, quite annoyed now.  
She made a meaningful face and cocked her head again at Ms. Dodd.  
Then a thought struck me. Ms. Meyer. Monsters. Evil. Maybe?

"You children," She hissed angrily at us, "and your leader, Rhianna Lieheart, have just played a practical joke on a teacher on the last day of school."

'Yeah, tell us something we _don't_ know' I thought angrily.  
What a stupid cow.

Then I thought something.

OMG.  
She had called me by my full name.  
Rhianna Lieheart.

No-one EVER called me that, except friends,

And enimes.  
She was monster.  
And she was here to kill us.


	4. The Hydra

CHAPTER 3

The Hydra

Aw, shit, I left my celestial bronze sword at home.  
Crap.  
I dodged as her clawed hand swiped past my head.  
"Get them outside!" I yelled at Lilly, pointing at our mortal friends who were frozen with fear, staring at the monster.  
Or, as it looked like to them; Our principal gone wrong.  
The monster's devilish, red glowing eyes were trained on me.  
I picked up a metal paperweight and flung it at her stomach.  
There was a terrible shriek that escaped from her mouth and she burst outward, showing thick, scaly black skin. The creature ripped through the ceiling, showering plaster all over Lilly and me.  
Holy. Crap.  
It was a Hydra.  
Its writhing million heads were biting at us.  
I saw Lilly draw her sword.  
Where had she had it?  
I saw her discard her guitar case on the floor.  
Oh. It had been in there. Wait, how had she gotten it in here? she had been in the office the whole time.  
I dodged another head.  
"No!" I screamed, as Lilly sawed off one of the heads.  
The head fell to the ground.  
Lilly had a very satisfied look on her face.  
Well, until the Hydra sprouted two more heads, where Lilly's smile slid off her face like she could smell stink-sap.  
"Aw, crap." I said as I dodged another head's teeth.  
"WHAT DO I DO?" Screamed Lilly franticly.  
"STAB IT THROUGH THE MOUTH YOU IDIOT!" I screamed back.  
I fell on the ground, searching for weapons to hold it at bay.  
I found some shattered glass that I began scooping up and pelting at the millions of eyes of the monster.  
It roared ferociously at Lilly. It wasn't paying any attention to me.  
I saw a fire extinguisher on the wall. I punched the glass and grabbed the hydrant, ignoring the fact that my hand was bleeding now.

I whipped around just as I head was coming at me. I sprayed the foam in it's eyes, causing it to roar angrily and snap at my face. EEEP.  
I cringed into the wall to avoid the menacing teeth.  
It pulled away.  
Suddenly, I heard Lilly scream.  
I whipped around to see Lilly beating a head pointlessly with her sword screaming;  
"THAT WAS MY DESIGNER FLIPFLOPS YOU JUST ATE YOU MORONIC HYDRA!"  
I tried to keep a straight face.  
This was _not_ the time to laugh.  
We could all dance around and be happy family later; right now we had a Hydra to kill.  
"Oh, just _move_ already Lilly!" I yelled, grabbing her sword from her and flinging it at the open mouth of a head.  
The Hydra gave a piercing shriek and toppled onto the ground writhing.  
Then, it vanished into yellow smoke.  
We stood in silence, sweating and staring around at the wreckage.  
"Whew." puffed Lilly after the long pause.  
"Well, that went well I thought." I said while brushing off the arm of my jersey.  
I could hear yelling and many voices and footsteps approaching from the hallway.  
"I think the party's over Rhi." Said Lilly, looking out the window in the office door."  
"Yeah, we should go..." I said hopping over a half-wall and into the sidewalk, I waved at the crowded street staring in shock.  
"Don't worry everyone, just technical difficulties!" I called to them. They began muttering as we ran towards my apartment block.  
I heard police and ambulance alarms approaching.  
I sighed, running beside Lilly.  
I had no _clue_ how I was going to get out of this one.


	5. The Bells of Moria

CHAPTER FOUR

The Bells of Moria

I sat in my room silently as my mom tried to get me out of trouble _again_.  
She was arguing with the teachers and the police.  
I was such a bad influnce, I thought, sitting out my window and glaring at a gargoyle that sat next to it. Our apartment block was old, victorian like and _very_ french for some bizzare reason.  
I had an ugly gargoyle next to my window, it's mouth wide open, and a bluejay nested in it. The bluejay had no mate.  
But the white dove in the gutter did. I had never known birds to nest so close to each other, let alone live next to the same window. But they seemed to get along in harmony.  
I sighed. Life as a half-blood wasn't all it was cracked up to be.  
Suddenly, I could smell salt water, and hear seagulls chirping. I could even feel the cool ocean breeze ruffle my hair.  
What the hell?  
I whipped around and practically fell off my chair in shock.  
Dad laughed. Poseidon had never visted me in person before.  
But then he became serious. His black beard was trimmed neatly, and his bright green eyes glittered.  
He wore khaki shorts and a blue hawaiian tee-shirt.  
He put a weathered, brown hand on my shoulder and handed me a bandolier of brass bells.  
"There may come a time when you need these." He said seriously, his voice washing over me making me dazed for a moment. Gods had that effect on humans. Even half bloods.  
I looked at the bandolier.  
"What are they for?" I asked cautiously.  
"They are to protect you. The dead are reawakening. Not even Hades can calm them to rest."  
He said.  
I stared at him in disbelief.  
What?  
"Why me? Why do you want me to carry them? They're too powerful."  
I tried to hand them back to him, but he pushed them back to me.  
"You are the only one who can weild them. The Oracle made it clear, and you are my only child who has not perished, the only child of mine who is a half blooded human." He answered. His voice was confident, but his eyes showed worry.  
I gulped but wrapped my hands around them.  
The Oracle was basically a dead egyptian goddess who was mummified. She was a friend to the gods of higher rank. In other words, the greeks.  
The order of Gods and goddesses;  
God; The christan one, the one who controls all; the others are his helpers.  
Greeks gods and goddesses,  
Egypitan gods and goddesses,  
Indian,  
Chinese,  
Thai,  
etc... (all that jazz)  
Anyways, the goddess was a friend to the greeks and had the power of telling futures. Even after she was dead, they posted gaurds in her tomb, for her tomb was not in a pyramid, and she would still tell prophecies even though she WAS dead. Everytime she did so, a gaurd would come out and tell the King who would send a message to God Almighty using a trained dove, for that was the sign of the Almighty Lord.  
Every big god and minor god would be notified of the prophecy by the use of the great horns, which could only be heard by the gods and Half bloods (very faintly for us halflings)  
Thankfully, only the greeks were aloud to have halfling children, or else there would be a hell of a lot of children of the gods.  
If the prophecy was important enough, a council would be held in the great temple of Christ Almighty.  
The prophecies normally concerned halflings, who would have to attend the meetings, some of which never returned.  
"The bells have names and each a certain use, Rhianna, you must know which is which, which is why I shall tell you them." Said Poseidon, bringing me back into the present.

"The smallest Bell is the Sleeper. Her voice is sweet and calls all that hear it into slumber.  
The second bell is the Waker. He balances Life with Death. Wielded properly, it will bring the dead back into life and send the wielder from Life into Death.  
The third, is the Walker. It grants the freedom of movement to the dead, or it can be used to make the dead walk where the wielder chooses. Yet, it can also turn on the bell ringer and make them march, usually where they don't want to go.  
The fourth bell, the Speaker.  
It can grant speech to the dead, it can reveal secrets, and even read minds.  
It can also still a speaking tongue forever.  
And the fifth. He is the Thinker.  
He can mend the erosion that occurs in death frequently, restoring thought and memory to the dead. It can also erase thoughts, in Life as well as in death Sometimes it can splinter the mind of it's own ringer, for He likes the sound of his own voice and always seeks to sing.  
The sixth is the most favored of all. She is reliable and trustworthy. She is powerful and true. She is used to dominate and bind the dead, to make them obay the wishes of the wielder.  
The last is most dangerous and the most powerful of all. You must never use it unless all else is lost.  
She is the Sorrowful.  
The bell that sends all who hear it into death.  
The seven bells are dangerous. You must use them wisely, and carefully.  
They are part of the beginning, the end, the past and the present and future. They were left over from the creation of the world, as were the parts that turned the gods into gods.  
Be careful." He finished finally, whisking his hand away and turning into sea mist. But not before he gave me a warm encouraging smile.  
All essence of the sea was gone.  
All through his introduction to the bells I had been frozen in shock.  
Great. I was now the Bearer of seven sycopathic bells with minds of their owns.  
Just damn peachy.


	6. A Rude Awakening

CHAPTER FOUR

A rude Awakening

I hid the bells underneath my bed. I stood looking around my room which suddenly seemed unsafe; even though it had been my safe haven for 15 years.  
I kicked off my red and white chucks, which flew off my feet and hit the opposite wall.  
I could still hear people arguing in the other room, unaware that the sea god had just been in their presence.  
I sat down on my soft, blue duvet, which had a Harry Potter pillowcase to go with it (It was all unmatched) and my soft, checkered HUCKLEBERRY PIE baby blanket, which had a decoration of grapes around the small blue and white checkers, with a little illustration of a little boy and a puppy fishing in a lake in the middle of it.  
Yes, I was whimpy enought to still have my baby blanket. Sue me.

I lay down on my bed, not bothering to get under the covers, just pulling my blankie over me and falling asleep almost immediatly.  
It might've been something to do with Sleeper, because I _think_ I heard her tinkle slightly as I closed my eyes.

I had a dream:

_Darkness was creeping around Olympus, it was making the temple where the gods sat (discluding Hades) shake and tremble. The darkness was growing near; the time of the Gods were leaving,  
And the time of the Titans was coming._

All the gods and goddesses sat on their thrones, Lucas stood next to his father's looking quite worried and upset.  
Even Hades was there, although he did not have a throne.  
I was not there; none of the half bloods were. I wondered why.  
If Hades was there, most likely the half bloods should be there.

I heard Zeus speak.  
His voice was heavy and slightly lost as if he was sure that it was now impossible to beat the Titans.  
"The heros are dead. Everyone of them, has died trying to defeat Kronos and his minions."  
I gasped as I saw what looked like multi-colored human lengthed packages surrounding the boarders of the temple; I realized they were not packages-in a sense.  
They were dead Heroes, wrapped in the color of their father or mother's color.

I gasped again as I saw a sea blue canvass wrapped around a girls body.  
I walked slowly towards her. No-one saw me, for I was inside the future, where I did not exist for it had not happened to my person yet.  
I stood in front of her, my eyes closed. I opened them. I saw my face. My eyes were closed and my hair was dull, spread out underneath me.  
Suddenly, I was jolted awake as I heard a strange banging sound.

my eyes were wide as I stared wildly around my room, clutching my blankie to my chest.  
Instead of what I thought was sweat I was actually freezing.  
Why?  
I suddenly felt a gust of icy wind. I turned to looked slowly out my window. It was snowing, the blustery wind blowing through the cracks in the old window.  
The banging continued, and I realized it was coming from my door. I could hear Lucas yelling on the other side.  
"RHIA! UNLOCK YOUR DOOR! I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!"  
What was he, suddenly my mother?  
He was about to yell again when I opened the door. He swore as he fell forwards onto the ground.  
How rude.


	7. Council and A Prophecy

CHAPTER FIVE

Council and a Prophecy

"It's snowing."

"Yeah, I think I noticed." I answered, making my way across my messy room to sit on my bed.

He closed the door behind him and sat down on the floor, leaning on my cast-iron bed.

"Your mom's gone out, she had an inquiry at work, and the police have left. I think she might have convinced them. She's good like that."

"Yeah… good." I said, repeating what he said. I was tired. I wanted to sleep again.

"Ok, so the real reason I'm here," He said, looking up at me. "Is because the Gods have called a council. They are going to figure out what to do in the temple of God."

I yelped and jumped up.

"WHAT?" I yelled. "You couldn't have told me before?"

Lucas was looking at me with his big dark-blue eyes, waiting to see what I would do.

"Wha-it-no-it-I-oh-see-I-oh-crap-it-I-is-no-why?" I asked weakly, practically hyperventilating.

I fell over backwards onto the weathered rug on the floor, hitting my head, but barely noticing; I was too busy being terrified and upset over this new dilemma.

"Because of the prophecy." Lucas answered simply.

I let out a little moan of despair.

"You do realize that half the demi-gods that go to the full council never come back?" I half-sat up and watched Lucas reproachfully.

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Yes…well… I'm sure that won't happen…" But even as he said it his expression was worried.

I sat up and leaned on the bottom of my couch and picked up my guitar and began playing 'Stay Beautiful' by Taylor Swift. Singing and playing guitar always calmed me down when I was upset.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! Stop now! This is no time for singing!" yelled Lucas.

I smirked. For some reason, music annoyed him unless it was hard rock.

"So when is the hearing?" I asked, setting my guitar aside.

"In one hour." He said with apparent ease.

"WHAT?" I screeched, getting up and running frantically for the door.

"Oi! Rhia! Stay here!" called Lucas angrily.

The lock on my door clicked. I tried to open it; he had locked it from the outside.

I whipped around.

"Let me out." I snarled.

"No."

Lucas was glaring at me, his finger pointing at the door.

His black ruffled hair was sparkling with electricity, but I didn't care; I needed to get to that hearing. Didn't he realize that Gods temple hovered over the empire state building and that we were a mile away from it?

And I would have to walk to get there. All the Pegasus's were in the stables at Zeus's temple (a hill outside of Manhattan).

"And why not?" I asked, fuming.

"Because I need to talk to you."

"There's no TIME to talk!" I yelled, pounding the door with my fists.

"I will talk and you WILL listen!" He answered angrily.

"Gaaa!" I yelled, completely pissed. "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? I HAVE TO GET TO THE MEETING-NOW! OR, I'LL PROBABLY BE SMASHED TO PIECES BY YOUR DAD! DO YOU REALLY WANT THAT TO HAPPEN?"

Lucas hadn't flinched through this whole ordeal, although I think that a wounded expression might've crossed over his face when I mentioned being 'smashed to pieces' but it was immediately gone whether I imagined it or not.

"You have plenty of time, so just _sit down._" He said coldly, pointing his finger at me.

He made me float into the air and float slowly over to the couch. Being the son of the Lord Of The Sky, (Zeus) he was able to do that sort of thing. I folded my arms, thoroughly annoyed.

Unfortunately, Lucas wasn't a minor godling- he was the real thing. (I liked to call him this) Big Headed Minor League Godling.

Another thing I liked to call him; my personal favorite: Zeus's Mini-me.

Yes.

Mini-me.

I glared at him but didn't make a move as he sat me down on the couch.

"So, spider-munchies, what did you want to talk about?" I asked, regarding him coldly.

He tried not to grin at the nickname he usually called me being used on him. (Don't ask me why he calls me that. It's not one of my fondest memories. Let's just say, it involved 12 acromantulas (giant spiders), a certain winged horse named Spazzwing, a spinnermonkey, and a pile of dragon dung.)

He didn't succeed.

He burst out laughing, while my face split into a grin.

For some reason Lucas always seemed to find me funny.

I wonder why…

Still chortling slightly, he stood up and came to sit next to me.

But then all humor left like a wisp of smoke.

"Kronos is rising, he is awakening the dead and causing the weather to go awry," he gestured to the icicle infested window.

"He will destroy anyone that comes in his way, and he will be looking for monsters to trail Half-bloods and to fight them. You, unfortunately, are his main target because you are the only child of the big three-that is, half-blood child of the big three, and Kronos knows that I will not leave my father's side. So, he is aiming for you. It is likely that half-bloods will be moved to Zeus's temple for safety."

I stared at him.

"I'm his main target?"

"Yes." Said Lucas, staring straight back.

I sat there for a moment, and then I asked:

"So what are you all going to do?"

"That's the gods decision. Either way, we should get going." He said, glancing at his watch.

I jumped up and ripped off my jersey, running to my closet, and grabbing red slim hoodie jacket. I ran over to my shoes and stuffed them over my cold feet.

Lucas had unlocked the door and was waiting for me. I was about to follow when I realized that I should take the Bandolier. I grabbed my yellow mini-sports bag and carefully put the bandolier, my baseball cap, my hockey stick-that when pressed in a certain spot it would turn into a bronze sword-And my bow and arrow in it. I slung the bag over my shoulder, ran out my door, down the hallway into the kitchen, through the den, and down the fire escape stairs, right on Lucas's heels.

Outside was a winter wonderland; the icicles glowed in the sun, and snowflakes danced on the wind.

I marveled at how something so beautiful could mean something so evil was approaching.

Lucas grabbed my arm and dragged me off down the sidewalk.

"Bloody hell, someone's urgent." I muttered under my breath.

"Well, it's not as if we have much time, the hearing's about to start in 20 minutes."

"WHAT?" I yelled, my eyes going wack.

I began running like hell in the direction of the empire state building.

Then I realized something.

"Lucas, we need to get onto a roof." I said, without waiting for his answer, I looked around furiously for a stepladder. Then I saw one on the side of a brick building. I ran over to it, and began climbing.

When I reached the top I pulled my silver whistle out of my pocket. It felt like waves under my fingers. I blew it and it echoed across NY city, spreading across the city to Zeus's Temple where the Pegasus, Domenear who would hear it and fly to us with Torpedo.

It only took two and a half minutes for them to arrive, where I promptly mounted Domenear and Lucas, Torpedo.

'_Hey Rhia, do you have any carrots or sugar lumps for me?' _asked Domenear hopefully.

"Sorry girl, I don't have any today, but Lucas and I are in a rush; how fast can you get to Olympus?

'_Oh well, that depends on how fast do you want to get there.'_

"Quickly."

'_I can do that.'_

She took off and zoomed towards Olympus. I turned and looked behind me to see Lucas and Torpedo tailing us with ease.

We kept going until could see the storm clouds. But, instead of going to the Gods Pavilion, we changed course and zoomed upwards where the clouds were darkest.

The electricity made my hair stand on end, and I was sure it would be staticy and puffy when we touched down. We flew through the powerful clouds, the heavy air weighing us down. I could smell rust, salt, and earth. I could even hear the water running through the air.

The power was almost overwhelming.

Finally we saw The Temple Of God.

We touched down and slid off our horses smoothly onto the marble floor

I looked up at the gods absolutely terrified.

They loomed over us, casting shadows across the stone cobbled ground. Suddenly, facing 20 deadly Hydras seemed like a picnic.

God Almighty was regarding me coolly, his gaze untrustworthy. He was even taller than the other gods. He was said to look different to everyone, his appearance to me must've been an 'I don't know' because his appearance was changing sickeningly fast, making me want to vomit. The only thing that didn't change was his golden eyes, boring into mine. I had a creepy feeling that he was reading my mind. I tore my gaze away, desperate to look anywhere except those penetrating eyes. Unfortunately, I turned and looked at Ares who was leering at me, looking at me very much like I was a tasty piece of meat.

I looked away and my gaze met my fathers. His sparkling green eyes told me not to worry and told me that it was OK.

I wasn't convinced.

The first one to speak was a woman. Her voice leapt out of the silence, surprising me so much that I flinched. I looked at the source of the voice and stared at her just like everyone else.

She sat on a throne of weaving silvery essence. It was a bright, whitish silver, and it was moving ceaselessly; the surface of it became ruffled like water beneath wind, and then, like clouds, separated and swirled smoothly. It looked like light made liquid-or like wind made solid- I couldn't make up my mind, but it reminded me horribly of thoughts. The woman was beautiful. Her pale olive skin shone as if from starlight, her hair was a deep, rich mahogany and was done in soft curls to her shoulders. Her dress was a dark red, and her storm gray eyes met my bright green ones, that were in such contrast with my light golden-brown hair. The Goddess Athena was whom I was facing.

"So this is the Half-blooded girl which has caused us so much trouble." She said, although she sounded more amused than angry. I shuffled my feet unnoticeably.

I looked at my shoes.

I wanted to look up at the congregation, but found that it was really much, much easier to keep examining my shoelaces.

God suddenly spoke in a booming voice that shook the whole Temple. I looked up so fast that my neck received bitter treatment. Rubbing my neck I looked up at the Lord Of All Things.

"I do not believe that she is harmless; nor do I believe that she is dangerous. But do we really need to blast her to oblivion?

I was suddenly aware of Lucas standing next to me. His shoulder brushed mine lightly as he shifted to his right foot. Suddenly, my straight well cared for hair poofed up like Einstein.

I glared at the space in front of me, my mouth stuck in a slight pout. I heard Hermes and Apollo chuckle quietly from my right side. I turned slowly to Lucas and raised an eyebrow. He was trying to stifle his lopsided grin. I gave him a hard glare.

"Lightning head," I said quietly under my breath, while turning back to the congress, "if I get the chance one day I will murder you."

Lucas let out a snort of derision.

Zeus regarded me through slited eyes.

"Well, she is known to be reckless, and she has a bad temper, so I suppose she could be used as a tool against us as the prophecy said…" He said imploringly.

My stomach turned over.

The prophecy said that? Maybe it _was_ better if I was disintegrated?

"This little pipsqueak should _definitely _be disintegrated. She's too much trouble!" Ares said sportingly, and I could definitely tell he wanted to 'do me in' as much as he wanted to fight and make war.

Poseidon, who I knew could sense that this was not going well spoke up at last.

"We will _not _disintegrate my daughter." He gripped the armrests of his seashell-made throne.

"In case you all have forgotten," said Artemis, "there was another part of the prophecy;

_(Full prophecy)_

_In the darkness you must wait,_

_Till the dice read five or eight,_

_The tallest building-it shall fall,_

_Evil shrouds that darkened stall,_

_Death by two,_

_And one shall die,_

_The Dark Lords rising alibi,_

_The dead shall rise,_

_And more will fall,_

_The tolling bells must one rely,_

_Controlling sea,_

_Controlling sky,_

_Daughter of the sand and shells,_

_Only she is the one to repel,_

_That dark and ancient wishing fear,_

_The enemy calls her,_

_His greatest weapon,_

_Rising slowly from his evil sphere,_

_But stone and sword,_

_Must one unite,_

_But only one shall leave that night."_

There was a stunned silence that rung across the hallway. Everyone was staring at Artemis, their mouths half open.

"Well, that just sounded like a load of waffle to me." Said Apollo sitting back in his golden throne, unperturbed, waiting for his sister's answer.

"There was hidden meaning in that 'load of waffle'. Just because you're so thickheaded, that you need me to tell you to go do things when necessary doesn't mean we all are. " Answered Artemis acidly, glaring at her brother angrily, obviously annoyed that he had not grasped the situation at hand.

Artemis's silver throne was suddenly glowing, and I could tell it was responding from her annoyance.

Apollo was obviously about to retort back but Zeus interrupted their little fight.

"Let us see what the Wizengamot believes."

What? Who the hell were _they? _

To be honest, I was becoming very confused with all the different branches of Godisim.

A clad of golden and red robed old men appeared with an enormous crack, just feet away from me on my left side. I let out a loud squeak of surprise and terror.

"You called, Lord of the Sky?" asked a wafer like man. His small blue eyes were watery and suspicious.

"Yes Reamer, what does the Wizengamot think of the prophecy?" asked Zeus dismissively, waving his hand at 'Reamer' not even looking at him.

For some reason, Reamer glared at me as if it was my fault Zeus didn't pay him much attention before turning back to the Wizengamot.

I frowned, suddenly defiant.

I didn't even know this piece of grub, and yet he was glaring at me as if I was something nasty and unclean.

I began examining my shoelaces again as hurried whispers erupted in the Wizengamot clan for a long time. Until-

"We have reached our decision."

________________________________________________

**Yes, I am QUITE aware that the prophecy sucked. No flames. Or I will shoot you DOWN like a DOG!!!! (no offence to the doggies of course)**


	8. A Dreadful Turn

CHAPTER 6

A dreadful turn

I felt my stomach lurch. My jaw twitched.

The decision…

Would I live throughout the night?

The decision…

I was close to bursting into tears; I was terrified.

I looked up as if I was a little girl again, getting in trouble with mom for breaking our china; my eyes were wide with fear and I was twisting my fingers painfully with my other hand. But I did not acknowledge the pain; I was too enthralled with the terrifying fear of maybe about to be crushed to pieces.

The decision…

I felt like screaming and jumping off the side of Olympus and falling to my doom, anything to avoid being killed by my own father-if the other gods killed me, he would have to help- but I figured that it would be disrespectful.

I squeezed my eyes shut as Reamer opened his mouth to determine my fate forever.

"She shall go free." He said grudgingly.

My eyes flew open. I wasn't going to be killed?

0.0

I felt like jumping up and down and group hugging everyone at the same time, but I contained myself.

I grinned. Even Lucas looked relieved.

I suddenly remembered a chant about butterflies, uttered by Ron Weasley from Harry Potter Puppet Pals, a spoof show made about Hogwarts and the students and teachers.

_Follow the butterflies, follow the butterflies, weeeee! Lalalalalala…_

I stifled a laugh, and made up for it by jerking my head slightly and biting my lip, my grin still noticeably there. Everything suddenly felt ten-times funnier.

Zeus was glaring at me, still obviously annoyed that I was free.

"Well…if it must be so…" He said, and then snapped his fingers and Olympus shrunk away and I was in a whirlwind of color, then-

I was standing in my room, as if nothing had ever happened.

Why did everyone _do _that to me? Just pop away before I get a say, or send _me _away without a say.

I sat down on the floor and stared at the feet of my desk.

What was going to happen now? Where to start? I had to find a way to get to the Titan Lord; find a way to stop him.

I became of aware of a distant meowing. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and the cries became a dreadful, fearful yowl.

I stood up and realized the sound was coming from my snow-ridden window box. I walked slowly over to it and looked into the doves' nest, the window ledge and the currently empty flower box. I noticed a small fluff of white fur, shivering with cold and drenched in rain, that was now splattering across the snowy ground.

A small pink mouth was open and yowling, crying for its mother.

I opened the window and scooped up the white fur ball that was barely indistinguishable from the freezing cold snow that topped its pretty head. The yowling stopped and the little pink mouth shut tight.

I slammed the window shut and sat the white ball on my pillow.

The ball of white immediately unfurled itself and opened its big green eyes. It blinked at me.

It was a tiny kitten, pure white with three spots of blackish gray on its head.

It's long tail, disproportionate to its small body, was swinging around like a monkeys.

The kitten seemed to be quarter Siamese, for no other cat eyes would be that big and narrow at the same time, and no other cat would walk that stately.

It stood there staring at me, _mrrting _and licking my fingers.

It shivered again. I grabbed my baby blanket and wrapped it around the kitten.

I pat its head as I tried to think of a good name. I could tell it was a girl immediately. Don't ask me how or why, I just did.

I thought that Penelope would suit her well.

And so, she was christened henceforth, Penelope.

Penelope jumped off my bed and settled behind a cushion on the couch. I walked to the kitchen to grab something to eat and for Penelope to eat too. I wondered whether we had some old cat food left? I hoped it was edible.

I decided against the cat food when I found it molding at the back of the oven.

I took a saucer of milk and grabbed a strawberry yogurt can and headed back to my room.

As soon as I sat the saucer on the floor Penelope bounced up out of her hidey-hole and ran to the milk and began lapping it up feverishly.

I sat down and watched her. Then, my cell phone rang. It was Angora. I looked outside my window; it was almost dark. I answered it.

"What's up my homo-phobic bud?"

"TONS! Oh my god you HAVE to get over here! Giant party at my house! All 10th graders to 12th graders are here!" she screamed over the yelling, laughing, splashes and blaring music.

"So _that's _why you weren't at school today! You were getting ready for a party!" I said reproachfully.

"Ehhh, it was the last day of school. So are you coming or what?"

"Sounds fun!" I said loudly into the phone. "I'll be there! Are the rest of the Gremlins there?"

"Yeah!"

"Cool!"

"Yeah! Bye!" She said loudly over the sound of triumphant 'whoops' and breaking china. Without waiting for a complete goodbye, she hung up.

I texted Lucas; Angora had a crush on him. She'd love him to come.

"Want to come to a major blowout part-a?"

"Definitely!"

"Anges house! See you soon!"

"Ok" he answered back.

I threw my phone onto my bed and opened my closet. What to wear?

I decided on my faded blue jeans, my pale pink chucks, a blue and gray striped singlet, a big blue sapphire and silver necklace, and a dark blue slim hoodie jacket.

I walked out my door and into the living room/kitchen and screamed as I was bowled over by a large flying ball of human flesh and hair.

"RHIAAAAAA!"

"Michael?" I asked, absolutely astonished. Michael was one year younger than me, and a child of Athena. And Athena hated me. And her son was giving me a bear hug.

Greeeeaaat.

As if I need _another _reason to be blown up. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Not.

"Michael, what the _hell _are you doing here?" I asked trying to wriggle out of his giant bear hug, his arms practically _crushing _me.

"Um, hello, you happen to be crushing very important organs Michael, so I'd prefer if you'd let go." I managed to say with difficulty. He did.

Michael's big white smile was plastered on his chubby face. He was skinner and taller than I last saw him, his crazy brown hair was ruffled, he had tanned skin, and his big storm gray eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

"So-are we going to the party or what?" asked Lucas, poking out from behind the refrigerator door.

"Yeah Rhia, where's the party?" asked another voice. How many people were here?

Connor came trotting out from behind Michaels' big bulk.

He was lanky and taller than I had last seen him too. Connors straight blonde hair hung over one of his light blue eyes.

I rolled my eyes. Connor had well…a bit of a…_thing _for me.

"Well, we need a driver for one thing…" I said trailing off. Connor had just winked at me, and I was too busy glaring at him to continue. Michael understood immediately and pushed Connor behind him, hiding him from all our view.

Ahhh, good old Michael; He was like a brother to me.

"I'll drive." Said Lucas. I turned around to look at him. He looked thoroughly disgruntled for some reason, and had abandoned _food _for once, even while the refrigerator was right next to him-which was like a world record. I mean he _never _turned down food. I wondered for the next few minutes how he was able to get his fat head off the ground to get to Olympus without falling over numerous times as Michael grabbed me and Connor around the waist and dragged us out the door.

Michael actually got in the front after pushing me into the passenger seat and basically picking Connor up and tossing him in the back where he landed in a heap.

Lucas didn't seem to mind that Michael had taken over driving; he was too busy glaring at Connor.

As soon as we got going, and Michael was chatting away, just like his normal sunny self, I'd all but forgotten that Lucas and Connor were sitting sulkily in the back.

Then Connor changed his strategy. He leaned forward, resting his chin on the shoulder of my seat, his cheek almost touching mine. I scooted away and angled myself so that I was facing everyone, away from the window. I could see Lucas slouching in his seat, looking very much like he wanted to disintegrate Connor, his eyes burning holes in the back of Connors' head.

Why was he acting like this?

I heard the sky rumble above us as Lucas's black jeep sped across the jumbled streets of New York.

I stuck a MCR CD that Lucas had in his unorganized glove compartment. I mouthed along to the words, watching the cars go by while looking out the window.

Suddenly, Connor tried to jump into my seat and snuggle up to me, at which point Lucas looked absolutely _livid._ I pushed him away knocking him into Michael, where the car temporarily swerved before Michael regained control.

"Go use your own seat Connor, I'd prefer to keep my dignity." I snarled, pressing myself against the window.

"And what has that got to do with dignity?" He asked politely, inching toward me again.

"Well, I'd rather not share a seat with someone who only likes my figure." I said acidly, glaring daggers at him.

His mouth drew into a thin line, and tried to jump into my seat again (for he was basically sitting on Michaels lap) but apparently both Michael and Lucas had had enough and grabbed the back of his blue T-shirt at the exact same time and threw him in the backseat.

Fuming, he folded his arms and squished himself into the seat, his eyes darting between my stony expressionless face and Lucas.

_Finally, _we reached Angora's house. The sky was pitch black and we had been able to hear the music blaring halfway across the intersection two streets away from her house.

Michael pulled up to the sidewalk in front of Angora's mansion. Everyone else got out while I peered out the car window.

The place was an absolute mess. I wondered where her parents were. Toilet paper hung across the windows like garlands, the front door was open like a welcome to everyone in NY and disco lights flashed across the giant, green mushy lawn-which was strewn with picnic towels and multi colored lanterns. Teenagers ate the food that they had carried from the banquet tables next to the 11-foot swimming pool, in which people were jumping in at random fully clothed. Tiki torches were lit and were clustered around the swimming pool as if they too wanted a turn at jumping into the too crowded swimming pool.

Some guys were running around having a food fight in the middle of the lawn, which people were watching elatedly like it was a show.

Next the house was a giant forest, large and daunting compared to the bright lights of the house. A guy and a girl, 11th grade by the look of them, were making out hardcore on top of the roof, and a group of guys were jumping from the roof onto a small balcony beneath a large tower, and then running up again for seconds.

I followed suit with the guys and followed them up the pavement to the front door.

The music blaring from the house was making the ground tremble beneath our feet. Balloons and Christmas lights were fixed to trees, and the house was covered in glowing Halloween ornaments. We walked into the modern front hallway whose walls were made entirely out of a giant sparkling fish aquarium. As soon as the fish saw me they immediately began crying in my head:

_Lordess! Lordess! Please make the noise stop! It hurts and we are scared! The noise makes our water sway and it is hard to balance! Help us mistress, daughter of our king! Please!_

I assured them that I would help, speaking to them in their heads, where they spread the word to the other fishies that didn't know.

A small guppy joyously followed me as I walked on with my friends, but when I waved it away, it went just as happily. It seemed that many water creatures are just as happy obey rules just as they are to make them.

Fish are weird like that.

We walked down the hallway, inched past a couple making out pressed against the wall, and entered the giant entry hall that was packed with people.

"I'll see you guys later! I have to go find Angora!" I called behind me as I made my way towards the stairs. But I might as well have spoken to a brick wall. They had disappeared from view, probably gone to flirt with girls, or, in Michael's case, to get some wine. For some bizarre reason he loved wine.

I made my way up the second of the two spiral staircases. I narrowly avoided being barfed on and had my feet trodden on a couple of times. At the top, I passed some drunken guys trying to bungee jump off the stair railing and into the crowd below. I walked through a walkway into a dark, vaguely lit, red marble tiled floor, with many mahogany doors that seemed to go on forever. The hallway was empty; which was strange.

The walls were lined with glass fish-tanks too, but instead of holding tropical fish they held gray piranhas. They too were wailing at me to shut off the noise-as if I could actually do something about it.

For a moment I wondered where everyone was; then realized with a dark red blush that crept to my cheeks that they must all be in the bedrooms.

I could hear Angora and a boys voice shouting at each other behind a door near me.

"Angora?" I whispered, creeping towards the sound.

Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind by dirty thick hands and pushed against the fish tanks. The piranhas squealed with fear.

Rough, gross lips met mine forcefully, and I tried to struggle away. I heard the sky rumble in a snarling sort of way. I knew that dad would be angry and, even if the other gods hated me they would be mad too. No mortal was allowed to manhandle a child of the Lords. If they did, the sentence was instant death.

_Mistress! Mistress! What do we do? Lord Poseidon is angered! We must help! _Cried the piranhas frantically.

_Well then HELP ME! _I thought angrily back, trying to push the guy off me. The smell of Whisky and Cocaine was overwhelming. I didn't feel so good.

Suddenly the guy yelled in shock and let go of me. I was so surprised at the sight before me that I didn't even register it.

Some of the Piranhas had leapt from the water and were biting every inch of the guy they could reach. The drunken guy staggered away and landed in a bloody heap on the floor just as the fish splashed back into their watery homes. He got up and I stared, terrified at him, too surprised and afraid to move. My muscles felt like jelly. I was frozen.

"Dirty, little-" He snarled as he came at me, but the sight of the figure standing in the doorway cut him off almost immediately. Lucas was standing there, his eyes a deep, murderous red; his face was white and his fists clenched. 

I squished myself as far as I could into the tanks. I shuddered. I had forgotten gods could look like that.

Lucas flew at the guy and landed with a crash on top of him. I stared at their fighting for a moment, and then realized that my muscles were unlocked. I hadn't realized I had been holding my breath.

I _definitely _didn't feel so good.

Clutching my stomach, I ran though the door and down the stairs, jumping over sick people, and even a girl who was crying. I _had_ to get out of there.

I pushed through the mulling crowd; everything was a blur. I could hear the laughter and music, but it was faint and wobbly. It had no meaning. I staggered out the door and ran as fast as could. People stared at me as I ran past. Tears poured down my face and I didn't even have the strength to wipe them away. That's when I ran into Zac Bolten.

"Whoa, Rhia, are you all right?" he asked, grabbing my shoulders and steadying me.

"No. Now get out of my way Zac." I snarled. "I don't have time for this!"

"No. Tell me what happened." He said in a stern voice.

I was really getting mad now. I could feel the bile rising in my throat. I was about to chuck it.

And so, without another word, I punched him. He doubled over, clutching his nose and yelled:

"Bloody hell Rhia what the hell is wrong with you?"

But I didn't stay and chat, I was already halfway to the forest by then. I ran as fast as I could manage. I wasn't going to make it…

But that's when I realized I was running through the beginning of the forest.

How did that happen?

Then again, I didn't really care.

I fell over in a tiny clearing next to a small log. And with that, I threw up.

Hours later it seemed, Lucas found me lying there, almost unconscious, dazing, my cheek stuck to the side of the log.

I felt him pick me up and I didn't know who he was at first. Everything slid in and out of focus as he carried me out of the forest. I suspected Michael and Connor were still inside enjoying the party.

He wiped a bit of sick off my cheek with a handkerchief, almost so gently that I didn't feel it.

I closed my eyes. I felt so weak even though my stomach was churning as if it was alive. I felt Lucas slide me into the front seat of the car and close the door.

I laid my head on the cool glass on the car window, my eyes still closed.

I heard the other door open and Lucas got in, muttering angrily about 'who Angora lets come to her parties.' I could still hear the music in the distance as Lucas revved up the engine of the car. It was a wonder that the party hadn't been broken up by the police yet.

Lucas continued muttering as the car began to move. I opened my eyes and stared ahead of me.

"I'm sorry." I croaked quietly. Lucas said nothing, but I could tell he was still mad.

"What is there to be sorry for?" He said quietly as if he was trying not to smash something.

We drove through the highway, the car speeding up as fast as Lucas's grip on the steering wheel became tighter. We were almost at an intersection. My eyes were wide open now. I knew he was going too fast.

"Lucas…" I croaked, my voice cracking.

He didn't even wait for the light. He kept going. We were almost there…

He turned left to go down that road. The light was red, but he didn't seem to see it. His dark blue eyes were staring unseeing in front of him.

"LUCAS!" I screamed as a bright light blinded my eyes.

Nothing was going in slow motion like in the movies. The adrenalin pulsed through my veins as I stared in horror at the lights in front of me. I was like a deer, trapped on the road, hypnotized by the blinding headlights.

I couldn't do anything.

There was nowhere to go.

I was trapped.

And I didn't even have time to scream.

The next thing I knew, there was a terrible screeching noise like nails on a chalkboard, and everything went dark as the burning metal of the two cars twisted around me, binding me like prey in a bears claws.

Everything burned, and everything smoked. It hurt, but not as much as it should have.

_The water is inside me…_

And then I knew no more.

**___________________________________________________________________**

**Shat, I'm mean…xD I KILLED HER!!! MWHAHAHAHA! Fatty…you're also stupid…OF COURSE I DIDN'T!! ARE YOU INSANE??? THE STORY'S BARELY STARTED!!!**


	9. Wizards and Lollipops

The darkness wasn't intimidating; in fact, it was safe. I was calm, and happy at the same time. I was floating in murky black; almost like black water, but goopy.

I floated there for what felt like a millennium, my brain protecting its main life source. Me.

My consciousness was gone-I had no meaning. My only job now was to sit; wait, and heal-Although healing seemed beyond reach.

I felt nothing. No pain, no aim, no worry; nothing.

Then suddenly my consciousness jerked. It felt like it was calling to me. It jerked again. I felt as if someone had tied an invisible rope to my wrist and was tugging insistently.

I followed suit, unknowing and relaxed. It wouldn't hurt me. Surely not!

_POP!_

I had suddenly popped into a different world.

How did that happen?

Confused, I looked at the squiggly white and black stripes in front of me. I blinked owlishly and stared at them. They began moving slowly, as if the pause had been unleashed and it was taking a minute to speed up properly.

Then the white became more pronounced and began to take shape. One line turned into a chair, and one line turned into the end of a hospital bed. I felt dazed, and watched as most of the black began shrinking away. But one thin squiggly black line formed a stethoscope, and one formed a black and white eye chart.

I blinked again. Where was I?

I became aware of the fact that there was a machine beeping next to me, and I was lying on a white hospital bed. _Then _I became aware of the pain. My right foot hurt tremendously, my left hand felt like it'd been sawed off freshly (though when I looked it hadn't been-just wrapped in bloody bandages.) and the right side of my forehead felt like I had half a migraine but with an aching feeling that made it much worse.

I was hooked up to many I.V.s and my eyes hurt to move them.

And, the most important of all, sitting in the seat next to me smiling was…

"Dad?" I croaked incredulously.

"That's right." He said happily. His tanned weathered skin was hard and his wild squarish black beard was wilder than ever. The crinkles next to his bright eyes were pronounced. I had a feeling he'd been _slightly_ worried about me.

"You gave your mother quite a scare. She's here now." He said.

"Oh _no _she'll be pretty mad at me. She'll never let me out of the apartment again!"

He smiled once more.

"Perhaps not. But you at least should have left her a note."

"Yeah…I forgot…" I mumbled, gripping the blanket with my right hand.

I heard the door open and squeezed my eyes shut as my mom entered with tears in her eyes.

"Rhia! You're awake!" She cried and threw her arms around me.

Her elbow length brown hair fell around me as I patted her clumsily on the back.

"Mom, I'm fine…mom, don't…It's nothing…really…I'm fine…" I mumbled as I sat there awkwardly. It wasn't often I was hugged. In fact I preferred not to be.

She pulled away and sat down in the seat next to my bed on the other side of my dad.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked slowly.

"Three weeks." Said mom tearfully.

_Three weeks? _THREE WEEKS? I wasn't that bad a crash!

…Was it?

"How bad was the crash?" I asked them both.

"Pretty bad. They couldn't wake you up…Until now." Said my dad somberly.

"Oh." I said quietly.

"Well, I'd better get going, the Cyclops Forges are in a riot. An hour ago or so; someone lodged a dynamite stick and set the main Forge on fire. Unfortunately it was lit with Blue Gubraithian fire so now the place is in an uproar. If I ever find out who threw it…" He trailed off with a dark tone, then turned to mist and swept out the open window into the cold night air.

Obviously, he was in a worse attitude than what he let on.

"What's Gubraithian fire mom?" I asked. I had never heard of it.

"Everlasting fire. The blue kind burns Cyclops and other fire-resistant creatures." I noticed that she had been careful not to say 'monsters'.

"Now, you'd better tell me where your friend Lucas is because I have a word to pick with him!" she said in a very motherly and strong voice, which was very strange to hear my peppy, outgoing, never-caring mom use it.

"No idea mom. Just, don't give me (or him for that matter) a pep talk. Please. Don't. Just, don't." I said desperately. She pursed her lips and her brown eyes sparked with anger.

"Well…Alright then…" she said, although I'm almost sure she would've argued if I had been in any state to argue back.

"You know, I've been sleeping here." Said my mom proudly, brightening at her supposed motherly-ness.

"Aw, mom, you don't have to that! I'm fine, really, I'll be OK on my own." I said exasperatedly.

She pursed her lips again and looked at me.

"No, I'm not sure you will be."

"Mom!"

"All right, all right, OK! I'm going! But if Lucas comes to see you, tell him I'm watching him…" She left off threateningly.

She tried to hug me but I winced, so she flapped around trying to find a safe place to pat. Finally, she settled with the top of my head.

"Be good!" She called behind her as she left, and I knew she was off to go shopping.

I didn't even bother to answer and settled in to watch TV.

Awhile later a nurse came in carrying a mountain of chocolate, cards and other candies and plopped them on the table next to my bed.

I sat up (and immediately wished I hadn't) and asked what they were for.

"They're from well wishers and friends. They're for you." She said with a sniff as she walked away. Obviously she didn't approve.

Just because when _she _was hospitalized nobody sent her chocolate didn't mean she had to be so _huffy _about it! (That was mostly just a guess.)

I grinned as I helped myself to Chocolate frogs and sugar mice. (Candies from the Harry potter books-people actually make them now!)

Suddenly the door burst open just as I took a giant bite out of a marshmallow bunny.

The whole group of Gremlins was there, Sienna, Lucas and so were Michael and Connor-not to mention Connor's twin brother Riley and two girls I didn't know, and one looking exceptionally sour as if she had been dragged along against her will.

To my astonishment, one of the girls pulled a small thin stick out of her jacket pocket, looked outside the window facing the hallway to check that no-one was watching and conjured up 12 chairs for everyone there out of pure, thin air. Everyone sat down as if it was normal and helped him or herself to my candy.

"I noticed that you got hit by a car. What happened to your love of life?" asked Jake while taking a bite out of a dairy milk bar. Mike biffed him around the head.

"Judging by your stunned expression, you didn't know that I'm a witch?" said the girl nicely, ignoring Jake's outburst. She was the one that wasn't sour.

"I didn't know they existed." I said, still stunned.

The girls smile widened, showing perfect, white teeth. She had dirty blonde hair and large violet eyes.

"Yeah, we do. My name's Hayden and this is Mallory." She said gesturing to the huffy girl. "She's a witch too."

"How do witches fit in with this…Greek Religion?" I asked.

"Oh, well, the three Original Salem witches were promoted to goddesses because they helped the gods out of a sticky situation. We're their descendants." She said proudly.

"Oh." I said. I was flabbergasted and had no clue what to say.

"I sent you the Harry Potter candies. Those are the real kind, not the fake ones those mortals make. They tried to copy the ideas from the books, but they didn't turn out so well. J.K. Rowling gave us witches some good ideas though." She said dismissively.

"So the Wizengamot on Mount Olympus were…?"

"Wizards, witches, you do the math." Finished Mallory scathingly.

"Wow." Was all I could say; I was so astonished at this new information that my tired brain whirred. I had been alive and knowing the Gods for fifteen years of my life and not known that Wizards and Witches were real. I grinned.

"Cool!"

"Yeah, the Wizengamot was the only name we could settle on. The head Elder witches wanted it to be Order Of Merlinus, you know, after Merlin (they made him a god) but the younger witches-the newly bred ones-protested. They wanted something out of J.K. Apparently the younger witches of our kind have developed a taste for Harry Potter books. J.K.'s their Hero now." Said Hayden.

Hayden and Sienna smiled at me.

"And err…they know about you guys too?" I asked, my eyes darting at my mortal friends now playing spin the bottle with a bottle of homemade butterbeer Mike had just drained. Mom had gotten the recipe from .

"Yep!" said Hayden happily.

"Yeah, Rhia, we know all about you but we didn't know about the weird stuff called the mist that we saddoes"-he gestured to the Gremlin clan-"can't see through." called Jake from the floor.

"Hey, Rhia, Why didn't you tell us before?" asked Angora, blushing brightly as her cheek was kissed by Connor.

"Err, because I didn't want you to freak out and think I was a dorkus? I answered while gulping down another chocolate frog.

Angora laughed and Jake snorted.

"You know you were out for three weeks!" Sienna cut in.

"Yeah, I think I noticed soul sis." I answered absentmindedly.

We called each other soul sisters because well, we were best friends.

Mike leaned over my bed and kissed Sienna. (They were BF and GF)

I cleared my throat and said: "Guys, if you want to kiss, don't do it on top of me please!" I said, rolling my eyes as Mike obeyed my orders. It made me feel sort of weird when people kissed because I had never had a boyfriend. And now that all my friends were getting boyfriends and girlfriends, I noticed that I really wanted a bf, but I didn't want Connor; so I was kind of glad he was getting along well with Angora.

I watched Sienna and Mike for a few second then looked away.

Sienna's father was Italian and her mother was Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest. Sienna was possibly the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. She was very quiet; Her gold/green eyes sparkled happily at any conversation directed towards her, and her brown olive skin shone like moonbeams. She had long, straight auburn hair and her nails were painted pale green. She had a runner's body and she loved dancing. I, on the other hand looked completely different, and she outshone me by far. I was skinny, but wasn't perfect and I had hips. I had skinny wrists and spindly fingers and light brown, straight, shoulder length hair and plain green eyes. I was messy and always seemed to look untidy, no matter how nice the clothes were that I was wearing. I always seemed to have a new injury or bruise every week. I wasn't remarkable and I thought that most girls were prettier.

Unconsciously I folded my arms across my stomach.

Suddenly I wanted them to leave; I wanted to lie here and wallow in self-pity forever. I didn't want to speak-I didn't want to hear.

So, I sat there chewing my way through a small pile of sugar quills, marshmallow bunnies, chocolate frogs, sugar mice and cherry liquorish while everyone around me jabbered and laughed away-everyone except Lucas, whom they seemed to be ignoring; probably because it was his fault I was in here.

I absentmindedly chewed long piece of cherry liquorish staring into space. I could feel Lucas's eyes on me, but I didn't want to talk to him. It was _his _fault I was hurt and barely able to walk.

When everyone waved goodbye and departed, I said goodbye halfheartedly.

I picked at my blanket and stared at my lap.

"Look, Rhia, I'm sorry." I heard Lucas say.

I looked up. I thought he had already left.

"I don't want to talk about it. Unless you have a good reason for ignoring me and not paying attention to what you were doing, save your breath."

"Rhia! I'm sorry! Please just forgive me!" He cried desperately.

I stared at him.

I had never seen him so desperate since…well, never. That was when I truly looked at him. His hair was messier than usual, his t-shirt was lopsided, he looked absolutely hopeless and it looked as if he hadn't washed himself for-well, pretty much the three weeks I was conked out.

I mean, sure, we were best friends, but he didn't need me that bad.

"All right, all right! I'll forgive and forget, just don't have a cow!" I said, alarmed at his hopelessness.

He smiled in relief and was immersed in golden light. I averted my eyes as he showed his true form, and disappeared.

Ok, that was weird.


End file.
